The area also witnessed protests from local villagers in the run-up to the event, which was to be held for the first time in Dediapada in the premises of a local church.

Meanwhile, Amarsinh Vasava, a member of local Christian body Samast Kristi Samaj, said it was only a spiritual gathering. “The event has been called off because of the protests… It is not true that it was a platform for religious conversion; it was only to be a spiritual gathering. In today’s times, people are aware and it is not easy to lure someone to convert into another faith and the allegations are baseless. Only the community members were to gather in prayer and sermons,” the Dediapada resident told The Indian Express.

However, in its memorandum to the District Collector, Rashtriya Adivasi Manch of Narmada stated, “In the name of a spiritual gathering, the Christian community has organised an event to convert tribals into the Christian religious faith. If this programme is allowed to take place, it will be dangerous for the religion, society and country… Although there is not a single Christian in this village (Sankal) as per the records and the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2021, yet, the Christian community has constructed a ‘kaccha’ church in the village. The Christians have interfered with tribal practices and are influencing them to give up their devotion to tribal gods and goddesses and tribal culture… Therefore, no permission should be granted to this event that is meant to execute a religious conversion in the area.”

District Development Officer Ankit Pannu said the memorandum was forwarded to the police department.“We received the representations and the local police station in Dediapada looked into the matter; the organisers were summoned on Thursday to record their statements. They have told us that it was the first time that such an event was to be held here… Apart from the VHP, Bajrang Dal and the tribal outfit, even local villagers have registered a protest against the event. So, the organisers have informed us that they are calling off the event,” said Narmada SP Prashant Sumbe.

While this was the first such event planned in Dediapada, Christian religious institutions claimed they have been organising tribal fairs annually at Jharali village of Tapi district on the first Sunday of February for years. “Since the past 20 years, the Christian community has been organising the fair that not only Christians, but Hindus also attend,” said Haresh Gamit, one of the organisers..

This year, too, a similar gathering of the Christian community was held peacefully amid beefed up police security in Songadh taluka of Tapi on February 4, despite resistance from the Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samithi of the district. Opposing the gathering, the group demanded that the district administration cancel the permission given to the organisers.

“Despite the opposition, the fair was conducted peacefully on Sunday. Over 50,000 people from different villages participated in the festival,” Gamit added.

This article is originally published on https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/christian-meet-called-off-in-dediapada-amid-conversion-allegations-9151916/